A Strange City

A Strange City is a 2D sci-fi action-platformer that challenges players to explore a mysterious, cybernetic metropolis. With its unique blend of side-scrolling adventure and shooter mechanics, players will battle strange foes, solve puzzles, and uncover the secrets of this enigmatic city.

A Strange City: Review

Introduction

In the saturated landscape of indie gaming, where innovation often battles derivative concepts, A Strange City emerges as a succinct yet atmospheric experience that defies easy categorization. Released in May 2021 by developer Dnovel and publisher My Way Games, this 2D side-scrolling action-platformer strips away pretense to deliver a raw, focused narrative of survival. It eschews sprawling worlds in favor of a claustrophobic, rain-lashed metropolis, where the protagonist flees not from human antagonists, but from a relentless, biomechanical predator. This review argues that A Strange City succeeds as a masterclass in minimalist storytelling and tension-building, leveraging its constrained design to craft an unforgettable, albeit brief, journey through a decaying future. Its legacy lies in proving that potent emotional and thematic resonance can thrive within the tightest of creative constraints.

Development History & Context

• A Strange City* was developed by Dnovel, a relatively obscure studio with little prior public footprint. The game was published by My Way Games under their self-titled franchise, which bundles smaller indie titles. Released on May 20, 2021 (following a brief Early Access phase starting May 5), it arrived during a period of intense indie game saturation on Steam, where visibility was a significant hurdle. Its development reflected a pragmatic approach: targeting Windows with low system requirements (OpenGL 2.0, 1GB RAM) ensured broad accessibility, while its 250MB file size underscored a focus on lean, efficient design. The technological constraints of its era—prioritizing performance over graphical fidelity—shaped its 2D pixel aesthetic and direct control scheme. The gaming landscape of 2021 saw the peak of narrative-driven indies like Hades and It Takes Two, yet A Strange City carved its niche by rejecting genre trends, instead channeling the tension of classic arcade shooters and the melancholy of neo-noir into a concentrated, singular vision.

Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive

The plot is deceptively simple: in a dystopian parallel universe, an escaped experimental drilling machine—”a crazy mechanical fish”—transforms a city into an obstacle course. The lone survivor, a factory employee fleeing for safety, must run and shoot to escape. This minimalist setup belies profound thematic depth. The perpetual rain and industrial decay evoke a world abandoned by humanity, where progress has birthed only monstrous consequences. The “strange city” itself acts as a character—a labyrinthine prison of broken security systems (shocking turrets, spike-launchers), deadly saws, and oppressive darkness. It’s a metaphor for existential dread: a hostile, incomprehensible environment testing the protagonist’s will to survive.

Dialogue is virtually nonexistent, forcing players to infer the narrative through environmental storytelling. Golden statues of previous victims (a recurring visual motif) hint at countless failed escapes, suggesting cyclical futility. The lack of traditional character development shifts focus inward, emphasizing the protagonist’s primal struggle. Themes of isolation, technological hubris, and the futility of escape permeate the experience. The mechanical fish isn’t just a predator; it’s the embodiment of unchecked industrial ambition, a relentless force born from humanity’s failure. This absence of exposition or redemption makes the final moments of potential escape all the more cathartic, framing survival as a fragile, hard-won victory against an indifferent cosmos.

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

• A Strange City* revolves around a single, compelling loop: run, shoot, and survive. As a side-scrolling platformer-shooter, it demands precision and quick reflexes. Players control the protagonist with direct input—jumping, crouching, and shooting—navigating vertically scrolling levels filled with instant-death hazards. The core tension arises from the constant presence of the mechanical fish, a towering entity that pursues the player relentlessly, adding a layer of stealth and panic to the platforming. Its AI is designed to feel omnipresent; even when off-screen, its roars and visual cues create a pervasive sense of dread.

The gameplay systems are intentionally sparse:
– Combat: Limited to a basic firearm with infinite ammo, used primarily to stun or briefly disable the fish or break obstacles. It’s not about firepower but timing.
– Obstacles: Environmental hazards define the challenge—spinning saws, electrified floors, spike traps, and collapsing platforms. Each level introduces new configurations, requiring pattern recognition and split-second reactions.
– Character Progression: Absent. There are no upgrades, health bars, or skill trees. Survival hinges entirely on player skill, emphasizing the fragility of the protagonist and the lethality of the world.
– UI & Design: The interface is minimalist, with a clean HUD showing only essential information. This reinforces the game’s stripped-down aesthetic, focusing attention on the environment and the looming threat.

While innovative in its tension-driven design, the system has flaws. The difficulty spikes sharply in later levels, and the lack of checkpoints can be punishing. The fish’s AI occasionally exploits screen boundaries, leading to frustrating “cheap” deaths. The brevity of the experience (completable in under an hour) may leave players wanting more, though this aligns with the game’s lean philosophy.

World-Building, Art & Sound

The visual direction is a triumph of atmospheric restraint. The 2D pixel art style, rendered in muted blues, grays, and blacks, captures the oppressive gloom of the rain-soaked city. Each frame feels like a still from a dystopian film noir—water-streaked surfaces, flickering neon signs, and decaying architecture convey a world in terminal decline. The mechanical fish is a standout design, a grotesque fusion of industrial machinery and aquatic life, its glowing eyes and segmented body radiating menace. The use of negative space and shadows amplifies the sense of isolation, turning mundane corridors into claustrophobic death traps.

Sound design is equally integral. The relentless drone of rain and distant industrial hum creates an aural bed of unease. The mechanical fish’s roaring and hydraulic hisses punctuate the silence, building visceral dread. Footsteps, gunfire, and environmental hazards provide tactile feedback, while the absence of a traditional soundtrack heightens tension. This auditory landscape transforms the city into a living entity, its soundscape as oppressive as its visuals.

Reception & Legacy

Upon release, A Strange City received muted but positive attention. Its Steam page boasts a “Positive” rating (82% of 23 user reviews at the time of data), with players praising its “atmospheric” and “stylized” design. The community noted its unique premise, with user tags like “Noir,” “Pixel Graphics,” and “Stealth” highlighting its distinct identity. However, it garnered little mainstream press, and its low player count (146 owners on completionist.me) indicates limited commercial impact. The sole notable community contribution was a full playthrough video on YouTube (November 2024), underscoring its niche appeal.

In the broader gaming landscape, A Strange City hasn’t spawned imitators, but it resonates as a testament to focused design. Its legacy lies in demonstrating how constraints—limited scope, minimal narrative, and constrained mechanics—can yield potent artistic results. It prefigures the success of similarly atmospheric indie titles like LUNA (2022), which also blend minimalist aesthetics with high-stakes tension. While not a landmark title, it occupies a unique space in the indie canon: a fleeting, haunting experience that lingers in memory like the echo of a mechanical roar.

Conclusion

A Strange City is a paradox: it is both slight and substantial. In under an hour, it delivers a complete, thematically rich narrative of survival, using its minimalist tools to evoke maximum dread and catharsis. Its strengths lie in its unwavering focus—every element, from the rain-slicked visuals to the mechanical fish’s pursuit, serves a cohesive vision of industrial horror. While limited by its brevity and occasional design frustrations, these constraints ultimately enrich the experience, leaving players with a visceral, unforgettable impression of a world where escape is the only victory.

In the annals of video game history, A Strange City may not be a titan, but it is a vital artifact of indie game design in the 2020s. It proves that profound storytelling can emerge from the simplest premises, and that in a medium obsessed with scale, power often lies in precision. For players seeking a brief, atmospheric journey into a world of relentless tension, it remains not just a game, but a singular, strange, and unforgettable experience.